By Farid Sabri
- According to UNODC report 2013, altogether 4.25 million individuals are considered to be drug-dependent, includes 80% men and 20% women.
- Villages of Doray and Athaal become a hub for drug smuggling in Islamabad Capital Territory
The federal capital, Islamabad, has become inundated with illicit drugs. Recently, a conspiracy has been unearthed related to a surge in the number of young drug addicts. The menace of the drug business is on an all-time high especially in the densely populated areas of the capital.
According to sources, there is a gang of 11 people who are running a drug racket in various sectors of Islamabad. Some of them are serving policeman.
Three of the gang members belong to Punjab, five of them belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and three are sitting police officials. Malik Qadus runs this illicit drug and liquor business in sector F-7 and F-8, Malik Tariq in sector F-6 and diplomatic enclave, Amir Malik in Goldra, Tarnol and Sector F-10.
Supply of marijuana, heroin and cocaine has been traced to the Doray and Athaal villages in the jurisdiction of police station Golra and Bara Kahu, respectively.
Sarwar Khan in the area of P.S Khana, Malik Kamran in sector G-6 and G-7, Tabu in sector G-8 and G-9, and one Achu in sector I-8, I-9 and I-10 are involved in this drug and liquor smuggling ring.
This gang of drug traffickers are working under the supervision of a man known by the alias ‘Feroz Khan’, and all drug smuggling is done under the supervision of three police officials.
The three police officials, according to the well-placed sources, are Superintendent Police (SP) Diplomatic Jamil Hashmi, Station House Officer (SHO) Hakim Niazi and Constable Zulqarnain.
Cannabis was found to be the most commonly used drug in Pakistan as 3.6 per cent of the adult population, or four million people, are listed as users in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report.
Sources confided in Pakistan Today, that an attempt to smuggle drugs in massive amounts from KPK to Islamabad l in public transport was foiled when the P.S I-9 on the information of special branch discovered 3kg of marijuana from accused Munir Ahmed. The police have registered an FIR of possession of 700g and booked him under section 9b rather than 9c.
Ehtisham and Rafiq were apprehended while delivering 5kg marijuana from G -9 Karachi Company bus stop; they were booked by the police officials, and rather than taking them to police station, they negotiated with the accused in front of Prince Bakery, and they were then released.
P.S Aabpara booked the smuggler Tabu more than 6 times, but every time he managed to get bailed out, or was released without registration of any FIR’s.
There are 9 FIR’s registered against Malik Tariq and Malik Amir under different sections including the smuggling of liquor in P.S Margalla.
These traffickers used their sources to supply drugs in schools, colleges, universities and in almost every market of the federal capital.
According to reports received, the Anti–Narcotics Force (ANF) -in nine operations across country- thwarted several attempts to smuggle drugs and seized 6.5kg of heroin, 160kg of marijuana and 2kg of methamphetamine (ice) worth Rs 443 million in international market rates.
The majority of those peddling drugs in the streets are either young children or females.
“Doray” village in the jurisdiction of Police Station Goldra, and “Athaal” village in the jurisdiction of Police Station Bara Kahu, have become no-go areas for police officials as the smugglers there have lined up against the concerned police stations.
They supply drugs to customers in markets, schools, colleges, universities, government and private institutions, using cell phones and mobile services for their transaction of money.
Some cases that came to the knowledge of this scribe revolve around Munir Ahmed, a resident of KP, who was caught red-handed while smuggling three kilograms of charas to Rawalpindi. In order to make the punishment less severe, it was shown in police records as 700 grams. After concerned quarters had been bribed, Munir was given full facilities in jail and also during his trial.
In spite of pickets at every entry point, police and rangers roam the city 24/7 and there has been a palpable increase in the general hold-up caused by the capital’s security establishment. How is it then, that every third youngster in the capital is a drug addict?
According to the 2013 report of the UNODC, a substantial proportion of Pakistan’s population aged 15 to 64 suffers from the devastating consequences of substance abuse. The Report estimates that six per cent of the populace -or 6.7 million adults in Pakistan- used drugs in the previous year.
The majority of drug users in this study fell between 25 and 39 years of age
It is also worth mentioning here that dozens of hospitals offer treatment of drug and liquor addicts in the federal capital, charging an individual Rs. 20,000 to 1.4 lacs per month.
SSP Operations, Sajid Kiyani, told Pakistan Today that all precautionary measures had been taken and the personnel of Islamabad Police were thoroughly working to prevent smuggling of drugs across the capital.
When questioned about the involvement of police officials in drug trafficking and backing liquor sellers, and the recent report of special branch against these officials, he offered no reply.
When contacted, the PRO for Inspector General Islamabad Police, Zia said that he had nothing to do with the issue and could not give any version on it. This scribe tried several times to record the stance of Inspector General Islamabad, Khalid Khattak, but he was not able to attend any calls on his personal number.
